The third annual Santa Cruz Chocolate Festival will be held Sunday, January 24th and will benefit student scholarships at UCSC. The event will be held at Cocoanut Grove on the Santa Cruz Beach boardwalk. Tickets range from $5 to $20 depending upon how many tastings you want to try and are available at UCSC’s Bay Tree Bookstore and Bookshop Santa Cruz. Limited tickets are available at the door.
Time: 1-5PM.
See the event website for more info.
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Tagged: artisan chocolate, Artisinal chocolate, Chocolate, fine chocolate
Blanxart Organic Dark Chocolate
Although Christopher Columbus is thought to have been the first European explorer to find cacao in the New World in 1502, he barely gave it a notice and stuck to his main mission to reach India. The elusive value of this incredible edible seed was not realized until 1519 when Hernán Cortés, a Spaniard, observed that cacao beans were the primary currency in most of Mesoamerica and highly valued as ceremonial food. When cocoa was finally introduced to Spain (first as a medicine), the Spanish worked diligently to keep it a secret from the rest of Europe. Thus began a love affair with chocolate that spread throughout Europe.
Of course it was all organic back then since industrial chemicals had not been invented yet. Today we look to Spain again for organic chocolate inspiration and see what they have learned after a few hundred years of practice. For this we look to the venerable Blanxart of Spain and taste their Chocolate Ecológico Negro (Organic Dark Chocolate).
Bombons Blanxart has been in operation since 1954 and makes a wide variety of bars, truffles and other chocolate confections. Staying true to their roots and their community, they continue to operate in artistic epicenter of Spain — Barcelona. Besides the bars for eating, they also make unrefined blocks of chocolate for dissolving in hot milk for an authentic Spanish hot chocolate (Chocolate a la Taza).
Although the full range of Blanxart products is difficult to find in the USA, I was able to secure some organic dark chocolate bars to taste. They make a 72% dark chocolate and a milk chocolate bar that are USDA Certified Organic and CCPAE Certified. CCPAE is the organic certifying body in the Catalonia region of Spain.
WHAT: Blanxart Organic Dark Chocolate 72% Cacao, 3.5oz (100g) Bar. Ingredients: cocoa, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, and natural vanilla. Blanxart get’s their cacao beans from Ghana and the Dominican Republic, but it’s not clear which beans they use in this bar or whether it’s a mix. Price range: $$ Where to buy.
WHEN: 7 January, 2010
OVERALL RATING: 76
AROMA: Muted pear, hay, banana.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: Faint lemon and apple notes slowly open up.
MIDDLE TASTE: Avocado, lemon, apple, lightly toasted bread, milk.
FINISH: Butter, vanilla, wax beans, faint coffee-milk, apple, pear, and marshmallow at the very end.
TEXTURE: A bit chewy and pliable at first, then melts to smoothness.
LAST BITE - A good choice for those that want organic chocolate with greater than 70% cacao, but don’t like overly aggressive cocoa flavor. This chocolate is definitely more mellow and subdued without any bitterness or heavy sweetness. At first I thought the bar might be a little cold since I did the tasting first thing in the morning in a cold house. Then I warmed the bar a bit and the flavors intensified a little, but were still pretty subdued for my preferences. My original rating was lower, but I’ve raised it a bit to compensate for my bias towards highly assertive dark bars (maybe a guy thing). For me, this well-integrated, highly refined, mellow style is reminiscent of some Belgian chocolates that I’ve tasted. If you like that style, this is the bar for you.
Notes: [1] Disclosure – I paid for the chocolate myself.
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Tagged: 70% cacao, 70% cocoa, artisan chocolate, Bean-to-bar chocolate, Blanxart Chocolate, Chocolate, dark chocolate, fine chocolate, gourmet chocolate, organic chocolate, premium chocolate, Spanish chocolate
Legend has it that the Aztec emperor Montezuma drank 50 small cups of cocoa a day as an aphrodisiac and to boost his energy. I figure at least some of this had to be consumed at breakfast. Of course, that was 500 years ago and cocoa was so expensive that only kings could afford this excess. When chocolate was first introduced to Europe it was mainly consumed in the evening as a decadent after-dinner drink. Still, there were eventually signs of more creative use of chocolate like this:
“When you have breakfasted well and fully, if you will drink a big cup of chocolate at the end you will have digested the whole perfectly three hours later, and you will still be able to dine..Because of my scientific enthusiasm and the sheer force of my eloquence I have persuaded a number of ladies to try this, although they were convinced it would kill them; they have always found themselves in fine shape indeed, and have not forgotten to give the Professor his rightful due.”
Jean-Antheleme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)
The Physiology of Taste (1825)
We’ve come a long way since then and today chocolate is relatively inexpensive and accessable to all. So the time has come to enjoy organic chocolate at breakfast and I’m not just talking about hot chocolate.
Organic cocoa nibs on granola
Here are some ideas for the creative use of cocoa nibs at breakfast. If you recall, cocoa nibs are the coarsely - ground bits of roasted cacao beans that are bitter, nutty and full of true minimally processed cocoa flavor. I tasted some organic chocolate covered nibs from Pacari earlier this year and loved them, but you don’t want to use coated nibs [1]. You want to use uncoated nibs like the Taza organic cocoa nibs I used to make an organic chocolate martini.
This is real simple:
Toss the nibs around with the granola, add milk or soy milk and enjoy. Most pre-boxed granolas have enough sugar in them to balance out the astringent bitterness of the nibs, and you will enjoy a real lively contrast to the run of the mill granola (I think that was a pun). I found the nutty texture and the cocoa aroma that came up from the bowl rather pleasing. Of course you can get decent granola at any good market or mix your own to avoid the added sugar. The website MixMyGranola.com lets you design your own mixtures or order premixed cereals.
The breakfast of champions - Organic cocoa nibs on oatmeal
Another civilized and healthy way to get your organic chocolate in the morning is to mix it with oatmeal. I stopped adding dark chocolate chips to my oatmeal (a tradition introduced by my own mother, no less) when my wife insisted that I was setting a bad example for the kids, but in my mind this discussion is not over. At any rate, if you put a small cocoa nib into a child’s mouth, they will soon spit it out, so there is no worry that they will be begging for nibs every morning. This will make two servings:
Mix in the nibs after the oatmeal is cooked. I like the granola, but I liked this even better. The nibs are subdued and coated by the oatmeal and the contrast between the soft oatmeal and the nibs is much more dramatic than with oatmeal. Something about the warmth of the oatmeal and the aromatic nuttiness of the organic nibs makes this an exotic comfort food.
So break out of your morning routine and add some excitement with chocolate - the breakfast of champions.
Notes: [1] Actually, you can try it if you want. I haven’t tried it with coated nibs, but the coating would certainly melt away in oatmeal, so it seems like a waste, right? [2] I paid for all of the ingredients myself.
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Tagged: Cacao Nibs, Chocolate, Cocao Nibs, Nibs, organic chocolate, premium chocolate, Taza Chocolate
The 100% Organic Chocolate Martini. Cheers!
As we get ready for New Years, I decided to prepare a unique concoction - a chocolate martini. Well, not just a chocolate martini, but one made from 100% organic ingredients. There are plenty of chocolate martini’s out there, but most are made with some sweet liqueur such as Creme de Cacao or Godiva Chocolate Liqueur. I have nothing against these drinks, but they are really more of a cocktail than a martini. A martini is inherently dry (and technically made from Gin, but we’re in the vodka camp here). So, how do you to make a chocolate martini that’s essentially void of sugar? It’s not hard, but will take a little preparation. Start about 3 days or more before New Years. Here’s what you’ll need:
What you'll need to make an organic vodka martini. (L to R): cocktail strainer, cocktain shaker, organic vodka, jigger, metal sieve, large clean bowl, and organic cacao nibs
I used Crop Organic Artisanal Vodka simply because it was on sale ($25 before discount for 750mL). By itself it tastes clean up front with a smooth, round buttered-corn note on the finish. I’m not an expert on vodka, but this one seemed well above average. Other organic vodkas include Rain Vodka, Vodka 14, Organic Nation ON Vodka and TRU Vodka. Some might dispute the value of organic vodka[1], but many of these companies are also employing green business practices and organic farming is generally better for the earth. That’s enough to sway me.
Organic Cocoa Nibs Ready to Add to Vodka
For cacao nibs, I used Taza organic roasted nibs. Taza Chocolate roasts their nibs “low and slow” to preserve the natural fruity flavor of the bean. After using them for this recipe, I was delighted to find plenty left over in the can to mix into oatmeal or over ice cream. By the way, don’t use chocolate-coated nibs. They are great as a snack, but won’t work for this recipe.
Thirty hours into the extraction the organic vodka is turning a reddish amber.
Now, simply pour out about a half cup of vodka from the bottle and replace it with a half cup of nibs. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll realize quickly that the half cup of vodka that you poured out of the bottle now has no home. I sat and thought about this for a while until I started sipping away at it, still trying to find a solution to this storage problem, but coming up dry. Oh well, if you all have some ideas, please post it in the comments section. Now, back to the recipe. Let the mixture steep for 2-4 days shaking the bottle lightly once per day. I extracted the nibs for three days, but I believe two days should be adequate and after four days, you are probably reachng the point of diminishing returns. I tasted the nibs that came out of the bottle on Day 3, and they were almost tasteless with little left to give.
After three days, the vodka is a deeper red and ready to filter.
After three days, filter out the nibs by pouring the contents of the bottle through some cheese cloth placed inside a metal sieve. Collect the vodka in a very clean bowl. After rinsing out the bottle, return the contents to the bottle using a funnel. Now you will have some 100% organic chocolate vodka ready to mix. Mine turned out a nice amber-red color, but it will depend upon the nibs you use and how long they are extracted.
OK, here’s the easy part. Lightly wet the rim of a chilled martini glass with water and run it through a pile of organic cocoa. I found it hard to get a nice uniform cocoa line on the rim, but decided I didn’t care. Shake the organic chocolate vodka in a cocktail shaker filled with ice until the outside feels super-cold. Strain into the glass and take a sip. Wait! Get any thoughts of sweetness out of your head before you raise the glass to your lips! This is a real dry martini and the chocolate flavor, really be more accurately described as a cocoa flavor, is an aquired taste. Unique, aromatic, somewhat pungent. Give it a few slow sips before passing judgement. If you still crave some sweetness, try this variation:
The orange chocolate martini garnished with shaved organic chocolate
I don’t know of any organic orange liquers, but if you do, let us know. Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker until the outside of the shaker is super-cold. Garnish with shavings of organic chocolate. I recommend going to the extreme of 100% raw chocolate from Pacari. A sweeter option would be Grenada Chocolate company’s 71% cacao bar. You can use a cheese grater to create the shavings, but don’t use a micro-zester.
From here let your creativity run away. If you want to go sweeter with the orange, OK, but keep in mind the chocolate flavor will start to get lost. What’s nice is the contrast of chocolate shavings agaist white, so you can try:
Where to buy the ingredients:
Cheers and happy holidays!
Notes: [1]Some people doubt the value of “organic” when it comes to vodka since producers are simply starting with organic grain and, in the end, it might just be a marketing ploy. I have to admit that I have not researched this technically at all, but my simple assessment is that if there are residual pesticides in the grain or potatoes and they are volatile enough, then there is no reason why traces can’t make it through the whole process all the way past distillation and into the bottle. Arguably, distillation is a purification process and other steps are taken to purify vodka, but it doesn’t mean that all the bad stuff is gone. You might consider vodka to be bad stuff too, so let’s put it all in context. After all, if you drink too much vodka, too often, then you will have bigger problems than potential traces of pesticides.
Furthermore, if you focus only on the health issues for the consumer, you’re missing the full picture. Pesticides and other chemicals can be harmful for the environment and for the farm workers who apply them to the fields. For me, this is the strongest case for organic vodka. I made an organic vodka martini because I thought it would be fun, but I don’t know if it’s any better for my health than good old fashioned vodka. Either way, please drink responsibly.
[2] I paid for all ingredients myself.
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Tagged: Cacao Nibs, Chocolate, chocolate martini, Cocao Nibs, martini, mixology, Nibs, organic chocolate, organic vodka
We’re about to enter the homestretch for the holidays where we will be barraged with platitudes telling us that it’s not about buying presents, but about the spirit of the holidays. Blah, blah, blah. Even though most of us will nod in agreement, we will still march down to the mall and fill up bags with video games, monogrammed golf balls, and plastic fish that tell jokes when you clap. How can we still buy gifts, but make them more meaningful – more about our family and our full experience of life than about stuff?
It reminds me of the scene from the movie American Beauty where Lester (played by Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn (played byAnnette Bening) appear to be making up. They start to kiss on the couch until Lester nearly spills his beer. The mood abruptly changes when Carolyn says, “Lester, you’re going to spill beer on the couch.” Lester: “So what? It’s just a couch.” Carolyn, incredulously replies “This is a four-thousand dollar sofa upholstered in Italian silk! This is NOT just a couch!” Becoming exasperated since he now sees the world through different lenses than his wife and the one opening back into their marriage is beginning to close, Lester jumps up and childishly beats the sofa repeatedly with a pillow and yells, “It’s…just…a…couch!” Gesturing at everything in the living room: “This isn’t life; it’s just stuff…!”
The truth is, stuff creates a burden. You have to find a place to put it, you have to worry about it getting stolen, lost, or broken. You may worry about the impression it creates (“am I a leather or silk sofa person?”) and you may even have to pay someone to maintain it. Since everything in this world is temporary, you have the burden of how to dispose of it when it is no longer of use to you. The more stuff you have, the more complexity you have in your life, bogging down your mind and muddying up your focus.
It would be too easy for me to quote a Zen master here; the connection is so obvious. Instead I offer something from an old, err very old, British guy:
“Every increased possession loads us with new weariness” – John Ruskin
Don’t get me wrong – some gadgets can be very valuable even though they may appear shallow. My Ipod makes the tedious job of washing the dishes 100 times more pleasant and has helped educate me on countless topics. This is value. So if you are going to buy stuff, make sure it does something for you – some job that’s important. On the other hand, it would be much better to buy more gifts that disappear. Yes, disappear – something that gets consumed by the recipient. There’s nothing to throw away or worry about getting stolen, lost or broken. The best gifts provide some experience for the user. Isn’t it better to experience life than to own something? Experience is what makes life rich and shared experience makes it even richer.
So, free your self from the burden of stuff and consider my list of:
OK, let’s start out with the pricey one and then get more realistic. You can treat the family to a vacation and put aside all of the stresses and distractions of your everyday life to really focus on being together. Too expensive, you say? Then go local, but try to get away. And for all you young people, pull out the calculator – do you really need that 3000 square foot house or would 2200 Square feet be OK with a lot left over for a vacation every year. You won’t need the extra space if you buy less stuff and enjoy more experiences. Besides, the house really isn’t an investment, is it? You decide – showcase house or memories with the family.
There are soo many options. Trip Advisor is a great place to search on vacation spots and hotels and read reviews from real travelers that have stayed there.
Eco-tourism is another great option that doesn’t cost a cent more than a conventional vacation. Help preserve the world’s precious natural habitats by spending your travel dollars where they benefit the local community and help sustain the environment. We did a trip to Belize a few years back that included hiking in the rain forest and swimming in a river that flows through a cave. All services and meals were provided by local people and care was taken to not disturb the environment.
There are no widely accepted standards for what constitutes eco-tourism, but you start your research with these websites:
Eco-Tropical Resorts provides a directly of environmentally friendly hotels and resorts with reviews by customers.
Mayan Encounter specializes in a la carte tours for differently-abled people and seniors as well as everyone else.
It’s been a tough year. Treat someone to the gift of deep relaxation, the kind only brought about by a professional massage. For ideas, check out Spa Finder where you can buy gift certificates accepted at over 5,000 spas world wide.
One of our favorite spas in the country, Ten Thousand Waves, in Santa Fe is also a destination spa so that you can combine vacation with spa treatments and Japanese style hot tubs inspired by the onsen tradition. On our last visit, my wife and I had a phenomenal couples massage followed by a good steeping in the hot tub surrounded by cedars, into the sauna, cold plunge, hot tub, repeat…ahhh.
It’s funny how people say “I would never blow 150 bucks on dinner out” but they would waste it on that pair of shoes they just had to have, but may not ever wear. For many people, dinner out is an infrequent treat and if you get them a gift card, it gives them permission of sorts to go spend the money. You could also decide to treat your whole family as a gift. If you do, be sure to eat the European way – drawn out and slow, with plenty of time for conversation mixed in. Here’s the trick: just order some appetizers and send the waiter away for a while. Give your self sometime to enjoy the appetizers, relax and settle in before you order the entrées. This will slow the pace for everyone and give more time for conversation and a more rich experience.
You don’t have to talk to share experiences with someone. Just being there and enjoying the same experience together says something. A provocative movie gives you something to talk about, reflect or debate later.
Gift pack of three premium chocolate bars from NewLeaf Chocolates
Don’t just buy any chocolate from the drug store! There is a wonderful explosion of interest in organic and fair-trade premium chocolates now with many options to choose from. These include many small-batch chocolate bars where the chocolate maker has a hand in everything from selecting the bean variety to how the cacao is grown, fermented and processed. A truly accessible gourmet food, it’s the perfect affordable indulgence with bars and gift packs for under $10 and gift baskets or boxes often less than $50. Of course, you can spend more on hand-made truffles or large baskets, but it’s unnecessary. I don’t know about you, but this stuff disappears pretty quickly in our house.
Giving someone a gym member ship seems a little risky since the hidden message is, “you need to work off some pounds,” but yoga has no such pitfalls and is a low-impact way to get out and move your body, reduce stress and focus your mind.
To find a studio near you try Yoga Finder.
By now, you’ve probably heard about one of the hottest gifts this year – the Amazon Kindle – a wireless-enabled e-Book device that allows readers to download and almost instantly begin reading books in electronic form. No trees are harmed and there’s no old novels to lug out to the garage sale. There will still be a place in my heart for turning pages, but for the avid reader, they can put a whole bunch of books in a small place and read on a plane, on vacation or wherever.
Barnes and Noble has now launched their e-Book reader, simply called “nook,” but it’s sold out (they’re accepting back-orders). There are also similar devices by Sony that are pocket-sized.
Know someone who likes to hike and appreciate all of nature’s splendor? You can gift memberships to organizations like the Appellation Mountain Club or the Sierra Club. The AMC is an east coast regional organization that promotes outdoor activity and environmental conservation. Membership includes discounts on lodging, books and maps plus access to trips and workshops. The Sierra Club is the oldest and largest environmental organization in the country. Membership gets you their magazine and access to the outings program.
Not only will they experience the joy of learning some new skills, but it will spur more experience as they practice what they learn. Maybe you’ll get an invite to dinner after the class (this may or may not be a good thing). Most communities have an adult education program and many urban areas have culinary schools that also provide short “recreational” courses.
Most charities will let you gift a donation in someone’s name. The beauty is that the only thing that gets shipped around is a note card to tell the recipient about your gift. Our favorite that we’ve used for many years is Heifer International. We like them because the donation feels very tangible – a flock of chickens or a goat goes to someone in need in a third-world country and it results in something sustainable – milk for a village or eggs for a household to sell. The hope is that this will make a lasting impact and help people to provide for themselves.
Well, I better get this posted before all your shopping bags are full. Happy Holidays!
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Tagged: artisan chocolate, Chocolate, Christmas gifts, gift ideas, gourmet chocolate, Holiday gifts, non materialism, premium chocolate, Zen
The wrappers are adorned with artwork by a local Seattle artist.
After the success of the last co-tasting with my wife, Genevieve, I decided to try this format again with a few organic chocolates from Theo’s 3400 Phinney Collection. It’s fun to bounce your impressions off someone else and always interesting to hear the flavors they perceived, but you missed. Genevieve amazed me again by catching some tastes that seemed almost obvious, but only after she called them out.
We tasted three bars from Theo’s 3400 Phinney collection named for the address where Theo’s chocolate factory sits in Seattle. The collection is made up of mostly innovative flavor combinations with a few more traditional bars thrown in like Coffee and Dark Chocolate. Of course, we veered right off the beaten path and went straight for these three: Bread and Chocolate, Thai Tea Milk Chocolate and Fig, Fennel and Almond in dark chocolate. All are USDA organic and Fair Trade™ Certified 2 oz bars.
Once again, rather that provide a rating, we have decide to each vote for our favorites within this bunch.
Theo 3400 Phinney – Chocolate Fig, Fennel and Almond.
Me: A warm mix that moves slightly in the direction of pastry. My fear that the fennel would be arid and astringent like the seeds you chew when you exit an Indian restaurant were unfounded. The fennel was strong enough to be a major note, but added just enough aromatic nuttiness. Still, I feel it was hard for the chocolate to come through and be fully appreciated with all the nutty noise going on.
Genevieve: This would be nice with black tea, or coffee or even over vanilla ice cream. Very interesting, but not my favorite of the bunch.
If you are a fan of nuts in chocolate, then you should try this one since it’s a welcome departure from the everyday, simple nuts-plus-chocolate theme.
Theo 3400 Phinney – Chai Tea Milk Chocolate
Me: Melts readily in your mouth leaving a mildly spiced blend of chai and chocolate that works perfectly. The chai lingers for a long, long time on the finish.
Genevieve: Pepper and cloves, vanilla, cinnamon. I drink chai tea every day, so I can’t help but love this combination. Well done.
Theo 3400 Phinney – Fig , Fennel and Almonds in Dark Chocolate – 70% cacao
Me: Surprisingly crispy – crackling in the mouth. The crumbs of toast are extremely small so they are evenly spread out in the chocolate. You get some nice strong dark chocolate up front, then a buttery blend of toasted French bread and cocoa that fades into mostly buttery toast with the crunchy little bits lingering for a while. All in all, a very interesting taste experience.
Genevieve: The salt is stronger than expected. Taste a little yeast? It’s fun. Once again, this one calls for something to drink – maybe Café-au-lait would work well. We tried red wine (2007 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Cabernet-Shiraz blend) which worked pretty well. Light coffee or Café-au-lait would work best.
LAST BITE: We almost agreed on the ranking, but at least agreed on #3:
Me: #1 Bread and Chocolate #2 Chai Tea Milk Chocolate #3 Fig, Fennel and Almond.
Genevieve: #1 Chai Tea Milk Chocolate #2 Bread and Chocolate #3 Fig, Fennel and Almond.
We both felt the Fig, Fennel and Almond and the Bread and Chocolate have great potential to be paired with coffee, espresso or black tea. So, push aside the biscotti and pull out some organic chocolate from the 3400 Phinney collection and enjoy a change of pace.
→ Leave a CommentCategories: Tastings · Theo Chocolate
Tagged: Bean-to-bar chocolate, Chocolate, dark chocolate, Fair-trade chocolate, fine chocolate, gourmet chocolate, organic chocolate, premium chocolate, Theo Chocolate
I’ve recently become aware of new rules that will be enacted by the Federal Trade Commision on December 1, 2009. The rules basically state that if you are reviewing or endorsing a product on your blog, through tweets or other social media, you must:
I really don’t have any problem with these rules since I’ve been following them already. There are other people out there getting free stuff from chocolate makers. I don’t see a problem with this either as long as it’s disclosed. In the end, it’s best to use online reviews as only a guideline to what you might expect in the style and character of a chocolate. If the chocolate sounds intriguing or the chocolatier’s story interesting, then try some yourself and make your own decision on what’s best.
In the mean time, I’m going back through all of my past posts to add a disclosure statement to the bottom. The FTC doesn’t require that I do this for past posts, but why not? Those old posts still get viewed and people should know the history.
For more information, see the FTC link above or take a look at this New York Times article.
Thanks and good luck to all my fellow bloggers. Remember to keep it real.
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Tagged: blogging, Chocolate, FTC Disclosures, FTC Rules, social media
Aequare Chocolate Truffles (L to R): Mocha, Salted Caramel, Blackberry Cobbler, Ecuador, Le Citron
Most often I taste and rate chocolate bars in the morning before I’ve had anything to eat or drink besides water. This way, I start off fresh with a clean pallet. But this time, it just didn’t seem right to be eating such luxurious little works of art so early in the morning. It would be like whipping out a bottle of vintage port and pouring a healthy glass at 7:30 AM. So, I asked my wife to join me on a Friday night and we went through a six-piece assortment of fine filled chocolates together. Even thought these are closer to European sized truffles (smaller than the gargantuan American standard – usually called bonbons), they were still big enough to cut in half and share. I’m not providing a numerical rating for these chocolates since they can’t be compared to plain bars, but we did vote for our favorites – and our pick for number one was unanimous.
Aequare Fine Chocolates was created by classically-trained American Chef Jeffrey Stern who is now living and making fine chocolates in Quito, Ecuador. Aequare makes single origin bars and ganache-filled confections in small batches using ingredients sourced almost entirely in Ecuador. Aequare also follows a fair trade model that provides fair wages for cacao farmers. Jeff has developed personal relationships with his growers and frequently visits the farms in Los Rios province that produce the beans. I’ll write more about Aequare’s story when I taste and rate their single origin bars in a later post.
Aequare six piece assorted chocolates
What: Aequare Fine Chocolates Six Piece Assortment. Filled single origin chocolate confections from Ecuador. 66g (2.4oz). Price – about $14.
These were our impressions, in order of tasting. Next to each name is the description provided by Aequare in the mini-booklet included with each assortment to help you identify each piece. I took more notes on my own comments than Genevieve’s, so her comments here are more terse.
Ecuador – Pure 70% single origin ganache with Tahitian vanilla, enrobed in dark chocolate.
Genevieve: Apricot jam notes, rich buttery ganache.
Me: A light buttery fudge texture on the inside, hints of whipped crème. The chocolate is not as intense as I thought it might be, probably because there is more filling than “shell.”
Mocha – The finest Ecuadorian coffee in a milk chocolate ganache, covered in dark chocolate.
Genevieve: “Oh that’s good.” Velvety smoothness. The coffee is not very intense.
Me: The coffee flavor rises up fast and early but is not overwhelming. Very creamy. Mocha on a buttery, milky backdrop.
Amazon – Dark chocolate ganache with Ishpingo, a unique flavor from the Amazon, and a hint of cinnamon.
Genevieve: Nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, brown sugar. Not overpowering, silky, round, and luscious. These flavors were more exotic and Genevieve is real good at picking these things out – she caught the nutmeg notes before I did. It’s hard to find familar comparisons to Ishpingo, but the nutmeg and cardamom comes pretty close.
Me: A very interesting flavor combination. Ishpingo came through as aromatic nutmeg notes that really paired well with the dark Chocolate.
Salted Carmel – The finest caramel ganache with specks of French fleur d’sel.
Genevieve: If just lick the ganache, you can taste more salt, but if you chew the whole thing, the flavors mix into a fine balance.
Me: A very satisfying combination. Again, subtle use of salt provides a nice complement to the chocolate. Do you see a trend here?
Blackberry Cobbler – Pure blackberry puree, almond praline, and semi-sweet chocolate enrobed in 70% single origin chocolate.
Genevieve (just enjoying herself despite my seriousness): Wow! What is this?
Me: The acid of the berries was a nice, clean contrast to the chocolate. The flavoring in the filling was definitely more pronounced in this case, but if you’re expecting blackberries, you want them to come through. These were made from the real thing as evidenced by the tiny bits of blackberry seeds.
Le Citroen – Meyer Lemon infused semi-sweet chocolate ganache, enrobed in dark chocolate.
Genevieve: Not my favorite combination. Maybe at this point in the tasting we were blown away by the rest of the chocolates, so whichever one we tasted last was doomed to be judged in the shadow of the previous five.
Me: Not my favorite either. Something doesn’t work well for me, but the citrus is a nice clean note against the chocolate. This is a matter of taste, of course, and you may totally love this one. Enjoyable yes, but it comes in at #6 for both of us.
Overall Impressions:
Me: It seems that Chef Sterm is not at all heavy handed with the flavorings. Rather, he achieves this subtle balance necessary to let this special single-origin chocolate shine through like a conductor that draws out the flutes and the French horns at just the right volume while making sure the rest of the orchestra doesn’t drown them out. I think this is critical if you are going to call something “fine” chocolates – you can’t be clumsy with the flavorings or use them to mask inferior chocolate. Clearly Chef Stern gets this and has only the highest respect for the Arriba chocolate that is the basis for all these confections.
Genevieve: “That’s really *&%^in’ good chocolate!” The kids are asleep; she can use whatever colorful descriptors she wants!
Here’s our vote for top three:
Genevieve: #1 Amazon, #2 Salted Carmel, #3 Blackberry Cobbler
Me: #1 Amazon, #2 Blackberry Cobbler, #3 Salted Carmel
Want to try some yourself? Aequare Chocolate Truffles are available online at NewLeaf Chocolates.
Disclosures: I paid for these chocolates myself.
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Tagged: 70% cacao, Aequare Chocolates, artisan chocolate, bonbons, Chocolate, dark chocolate, Ecuador, Filled confections, fine chocolate, gourmet chocolate, premium chocolate, Truffles
Soon after writing one of my more popular posts, A Mind Full of Chocolate, which introduces the concept of mindful eating, I came across a new and very important book that applies mindfulness and other progressive methods to the issue of weight management. Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent- Repeat Cycle by Michelle May, M.D. is a fresh look at an old problem.
Best Health Book of the year by National Book Awards
As an evangelist for fine chocolate and a Certified Fitness Nutritionist, I have a sort-of moral obligation to provide people some tools to eat reasonably, right? The way I look at it, maintaining a healthy relationship with food, including chocolate, is what enables you to enjoy good food for the rest of your life without worry. There’s no need to pretend you don’t love food or to distance yourself from food – that would be unnatural. Maintaining a healthy balance is what’s important and that’s why it’s so refreshing to find a book that helps people achieve that balance in a natural, but not necessarily effortless way.
It would be unfair to call this a diet book since it really does usher in a new way of thinking about eating – a more holistic approach. But let’s recall the diet books of the past. There was the obvious low-carb craze in which, if I could exaggerate a bit, you starve yourself almost completely of carbs in the first phase until your body switches into a new biochemical state so that you start to smell and feel strange and then you add a few carbs back in the second phase until you feel somewhat normal again. You get to eat loads of meat and fat. Don’t worry, it’s complicated and unintuitive, but it works. Right. Or how about, let’s eat grape fruit for 2 weeks or…peaches, or whatever until you are entirely fed up with that food and don’t feel like eating much. All such approaches are a form of calorie restriction – creating a rigid set of rules around what you can and can’t eat so in the end, you simply eat less. Less, that is, until you can’t take it anymore and go back to whatever you were doing before you started the diet. And that was working, right?
Contrast that to Dr. May’s approach: you learn to become more aware of your body and your emotions – gaining insight to why you eat and how you feel during each part of the eating cycle. You ask yourself the simple question: “am I hungry” and based upon this, make conscious decisions about what to do next while fully awake. By awake, I mean mindful of your feelings and the physical state of your body (physical feelings of hunger or fatigue, for instance). She also explains how to put mindful eating to work so you enjoy food more and feel more satisfied with each meal. This all might sound a little touch-feely, but Dr. May brings it all down to earth with practical, tangible methods. She outlines many common scenarios and offers strategies for dealing with each one. For instance, how do you deal with the sugar craving that might come with the afternoon slump or how do you recognize and respond to certain emotional triggers.
There’s also a rating scale to help you conceptualize the stages of hunger from 1 to 10. It seems to me that this and other skills outlined in the book are easy enough to learn and apply so they can become habit and a seamless part of one’s life. No complex rules, just concepts and skills that allow you to be in charge of your eating. However, there is plenty of factual nutritional information including guidance on balancing certain types of nutrients, but it’s all kept pretty light rather than textbook-like. I think if you are going to eat mindfully and intelligently, you need a basic dose of nutritional knowledge to back you up. The book equips you with what you need to know so you maintain a healthy balance.
But lack of rules doesn’t mean lack of guidance. There are plenty of specifics in this book, it’s just up to you to decide what applies to you and what to use in each situation. Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat helps you through many common scenarios such as how to resolve emotional eating, how to stop using exercise as a punishment (“if I eat this, I will need to do an extra 20 minutes on the treadmill”) and, of course, how to make nutritionally sound choices.
I sometimes wonder if some people are afraid they might finally find the solution that actually works. What if you ask the question “am I hungry” and don’t like the answer? In an unexpected twist, Dr. May says it’s still all up to you what you do. Even if you are not truly hungry, you might still decide to eat. As long as you are aware of what you are doing an why, it’s OK. It’s better than mindless, impulsive eating. It’s just part of the path of being more aware of the reasons for eating and what it’s doing for you. The assumption is that eventually you will make healthier choices more often because you are more aware of what you are eating and why. Even better, you can still have an affectionate, but healthy relationship with food.
Trying hard find something wrong with this book, I dove deep into the later chapters where there are series of recipes, expecting to find bland or dumbed-down concoctions. What I found instead was that the recipes were created with the help Dr. May’s husband, a professional spa chef. After I got beyond my fixation with the chocolate chip cloud cookies and bittersweet chocolate souffles, I found some tasty, but straightforward recipes: roasted roots, southwestern stew and olive tapenade. The recipes strike a good balance between easy preparation and excitement.
In short, it’s all about you – not about some one-size fits all set of rules – it’s about how you feel, your reasons for eating, your situation, your relationship with food. In the end, I think this is the start of a paradigm shift where we will see more approaches like this that integrate a holistic and flexible approach including mindfulness. Readers would be well served to read this book and ride the front of that wave.
Disclosures: I was given an Advanced Reviewers Copy of this book for free. I am not compensated in any way if you buy the book or click on any of the links in this post.
→ Leave a CommentCategories: Book Reviews · Food · Health and nutrition
Tagged: Book Reviews, mindful eating, mindfulness, self help books, weight control, weight loss
The Grenada Chocolate Company’s solar–powered factory sits in the Caribbean rainforest among lush cocoa groves. It’s here that the organically farmed cacao is transformed into gloriously complex chocolate. Grenada is able to achieve award–winning results through control and involvement in all steps of the process: from the farms in the cocoa growing cooperative to the bean fermentation process. The results are obvious in the deep complex flavors developed in the bars. The deep espresso, cream and vanilla flavors and aromas are dazzling.
Grenada Chocolate Company's Organic Dark Chocolate 71% Cocoa
The chocolate is certified organic with every ingredient being organic starting with, of course, the cacao, sugar, biodynamically grown vanilla from Costa Rica, and organic soy lecithin in very small amounts as an emulsifier (see Last Bite below for more on soy lecithin). Grenada advertises: “all of our products are nut free – not a trace.”
Local involvement in this enterprise doesn’t stop with the cocoa farmers. Rather, the factory itself is run and owned by Grenadians. This takes the fair trade model even further and shares more of the benefits with the local population.
The only thing not to like about The Grenada Chocolate Company is they only make two bars: a 71% and a 60% cacao. At the same time, I have to admire focus. The 71% bar won the silver medal at the 2008 Academy of Chocolate Awards for Best Dark Organic Bar. I decided to see what this was all about by tasting a bar… or two.
WHAT: Grenada Chocolate Company 71%. USDA Organic. 85g bar. Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, fresh organic cocoa butter, organic vanilla beans, organic soy lecithin (in very small amounts). Price range: $$ Where to buy.
WHEN: I tasted a number of bars during September and October 2009
OVERALL RATING: 87
AROMA: Coconut, coffee, green beans.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: Espresso and espresso and espresso- a real dark, rich, intense bar.
MIDDLE TASTE: Angle food cake, honey-ham, cinnamon, cloves, strawberries.
FINISH: Toasted marshmallows, fresh light coffee, vanilla, whipped creme. No astringency; just a smooth ending.
TEXTURE: Smooth and creamy.
LAST BITE - The dominant themes were 1) COFFEE: first espresso moving into cappuccino moving into light coffee at the end and 2) ANGLE CAKE – starting with a light toast plus berries, then the angle cake, then marshmallows. This is my kind of chocolate – I like my coffee super-dark and without sugar. This had the most potent coffee aromas I have come across in while, but still had the coveted fruitiness that I suppose helped win the silver medal.
Sometimes you’ll find smoky coffee notes in a chocolate that’s made from over-roasted beans. In fact there are two ways to cover up the flavor of an inferior bean – over-roasting and adding extra vanilla. There is no evidence of either evil digression in this chocolate. Instead, the fruit notes of the bean shine through well and the vanilla blends in a complementary way – I didn’t even pick it up as one of the dominant flavors (although it’s probably part of what I sensed as “marshmallow”). Again, judicious use of vanilla can enhance flavor and over-use is abuse.
Now I need to comment on the ingredients a bit. Some people object to having any soy lecithin in their chocolate. It’s there for a reason – to help fill the molds and stabilize the suspension of cocoa particles. I can only speculate that because Grenada Chocolate has some elaborate artwork in the molds, that they are more difficult to fill. I don’t personally object to soy lecithin as long as the amount is small and I can’t taste it. It is a food (vegetable) based material after all. As far as I can tell, the objections to soy lecithin come from a three camps. First, some people have concerns about soy in general because it contains natural phytoestrogens that mimic estrogen in our bodies and may cause hormonal imbalances. But this not soy; it’s lecithin and it’s not like eating a block of tofu. To lump a tiny amount of soy lecithin in with a general fear of soy seems misplaced. I can’t see any reason for concern here.
Then there is the small percentage of the popluation that is alergic to soy. They have a legitimate conern, but fortunately most of these people are not allergic to soy lecithin since it is a by-product of making the oil. The other concern might be that lecithin is often extracted from soy using solvents and these might also pull out and concentrate any pesticides in the soy. Again, no worries, since we are dealing with organic soy lecithin in the Grenada bar. Organic soy by definition doesn’t see any chemical pesticides! On the other hand, the purist in me would prefer that they not use it – not because I have any health concerns at all, but because chocolate making is about chocolate and we know that other producers have done it without lecithin. Although, others may have simpler patterns in their molds, so let’s cut some slack here.
In the end, the taste trumps (almost) all else and this one is a winner. They have the medal to prove it.
Disclosures: I paid for these chocolates myself.
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Tagged: 70% cacao, 70% cocoa, Bean-to-bar chocolate, dark chocolate, Grenada Chocolate, organic chocolate, premium chocolate
